Marco Polo is the latest Netflix original series about the legendary Italian adventurer. Olivia Cheng, who plays Mei Lin, talks what makes this series unique.

Marco Polo, Netflix’s newest original content series, will debut on December 12, 2014. Much like their House of Cards series, viewers will have instant gratification as all 10 episodes will be released at once. Produced by the Weinstein Company, Ben Silverman and Chris Grant of Electus are Executive Producers on the series, no expense was spared engaging designers from the Oscar winner Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, to locations in Italy, Malaysia, and Kazakhstan.

According to Netflix, “Marco Polo is an epic adventure that follows the early years of the famous explorer as he travels the exotic Silk Road to the great Kublai Khan’s court. But Marco soon finds that navigating the Khan’s world of greed, betrayal, sexual intrigue and rivalry will be his greatest challenge yet, even as he becomes a trusted companion to the Khan in his violent quest to become the Emperor of the World.”

Canadian actress, Olivia Cheng, who American audiences may recognize from her guest starring roles on Supernatural, Arrow, or more recently The Flash, plays Mei Lin, a concubine in the court of the Song Dynasty in China. Cheng spoke with Hypable about this epic series.

When asked what attracted her to this series Cheng listed several factors. The first was the fact that, “The show is set is Asia. I never thought I’ve have the opportunity to be part of an Asian historical in the English language.” Cheng has a point in that Asian historicals are rare.

According to the New York Times over 90 million was spent on this production. The last English language, Asian-based series that was produced on such a scale was Shogun, and that was over 35 years ago.

Newer historicals, such as Outlander, have been criticized for relying on too much dialogue in a native tongue that is then subtitled for entire scenes. Marco Polo viewers will have no worries in that department. Cheng, whose parents are native speakers of Cantonese, states that very little conversation is heard in any language other than English. Just the occasional phrase is heard, “to set the atmosphere.”

Another element that attracted Cheng to the project was the international cast. Lorenzo Richelmy, who plays Marco Polo, is well-known in his native Italy, but is a relative unknown to most American audiences. Chin Han plays the pivotal role of Cheng’s brother, Jia Sidao, the powerful chancellor in the Song Dynasty who uses his sister as a spy and more.

The relationship between Mei Lin, who Cheng describes as “a badass,” and Jia Sidao is a dark and complex one. Cheng wryly describes it as “dysfunctional codependency.” Each of them rely on the other, yet resents the other. All the while, they each have to use their wits, powers of persuasion, and cunning to get what they want to secure their future and their safety at court.

Cheng states, that the backstory of the Mei Lin, “is truly heartbreaking. You understand why she makes the choices that she does.” When asked what is it in this high stakes game of intrigue that most motivates her character, Cheng instantly and enthusiastically states, “That’s easy. It is her daughter. Everything she does is because of her daughter. There is nothing that she wouldn’t do, she is fiercely protective of her daughter.”

What dangers lurk at court? The court of the Song Dynasty could be ever bit as ruthless and bizarre as the court of Henry VIII that many viewers witnessed in the recent The Tudors series. In fact, some of the secrets of high ranking members of the court even shocked Cheng. Without spoiling which character it is, Cheng stated that one plot-line that shocked her was that, “mummification of servants was a common practice of one of the members at court.”

When asked if there is a hope that if successful the series could be greenlit for a season two, Cheng stated, “Absolutely! And with 17 years of source material, they have plenty to draw from.”

Marco Polo can be seen online on Netflix starting December 12, 2014.